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Background
The renowned grime MC and rapper Skepta knows that thereâs no such thing as an overnight success. After the rapper launched his fashion brand, Mains, in 2017, it was put on pause after a split from his manufacturer before making a return to London Fashion Week last year. Progress, he believes, takes time and resilience.
âLike anything in the world, the best way to learn is to do it and fail,â he said. âI know that itâs not a short road ⦠you have to be in it to win. And it could take one pair of shoes. It could take a hat, could take one bag ⦠If you donât carry on trying and failing, you wonât get there.â
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Skepta to discuss Mainsâ revival, his philosophy of perseverance and why he refuses to follow conventional rules in the fashion industry.
Key Insights
- Skeptaâs love for fashion was sparked by his passion for underground music and the style he saw at garage events. âIâm getting turned away from clubs ⦠and when Iâm getting turned away, Iâm looking in the queue and thereâs people wearing Versace, Moschino, Patrick Cox loafers,â he says. The way that clothes and music felt, tied together to shape his taste. âThat was where I really fell in love with fashion. The aspiration of wanting to wear the clothes, but also listening to the music that you listen to when you wear the clothes.â
- Skeptaâs journey as a fashion customer, with a keen eye for garment construction and detail, led him to launch his own brand. âYears and years of experience of buying clothes and looking at stitches and the inside jackets, the panels, I just felt like I was experienced enough to give the tailoring expertise as well as the love and the true magical passion thatâs not taught in school. … Paired with a great designer, Mikey Pearce, and team, it was almost like divine intervention for me to just do it.â
- Skeptaâs creative process is iterative. âWith music, you can actually change the audio after itâs even out, but with clothes you definitely canât, so until itâs out Iâm always changing. Iâm always adapting and figuring out,â he says. âI donât like putting boundaries on thought. I think we should always be able to adapt and change.â
- âIâm doing one show a year. Spring, summer or winter altogether. Boys and girls in my show, theyâre all wearing the same clothes.â This creative freedom allows Skepta to fully enjoy the process, believing itâs important to not take fashion too seriously. âIt should be fun. And I see a lot of people that go into fashion and adhere to the rules that have been set, then they start having a bad time doing something that they love. Thatâs crazy to me.â
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